UN Interviews

Although African countries are collecting substantial data around health, how it is used remains a challenge. 

This information is crucial for decision-making, such as determining how many vaccines to purchase to protect children against disease, or how many nurses are needed in a particular region. 

To address this, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have convened the first African Health Data Forum taking place in Nairobi this week. 

WHO Technical Officer Dr. Hillary Kipruto spoke to UN News’s Dianne Penn about the need for quality data – and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) - to drive solutions that ensure everyone has access to healthcare. 

Resurgent violence in northern Mozambique has forced more than 7,000 mainly women and children from their homes in recent weeks.

Non-state armed groups are behind the emergency in Cabo Delgado province, which now hosts more than 205,000 displaced people across 84 sites.

The UN International Organization for Migration, IOM, is providing emergency and longer-term assistance to the most vulnerable individuals. For more details, Dana Graber Ladek, IOM Chief of Mission in Mozambique, spoke to UN News’s Daniel Johnson, from Maputo. 

Every culture has its own textile, from hand-knitted sweaters to ceremonial weaving. 

A new initiative called Fashion Diplomacy wants to use that heritage to bring countries closer together, and to help make traditional craft pay for the people who keep it alive.

It was launched during the 81st UN General Assembly in New York in September at the SDG Media Zone, a venue for the discussion of sustainable development.

Fashion Diplomacy’s founder, Marilin Tammsaar was joined by Jasmine Aarons, founder of the fashion brand VOZ.

Vogue Business Sustainability Editor Bella Webb moderated.

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.

Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

Current AI models are exposing women and girls to new forms of abuse and reinforcing their marginalisation: 98 per cent of deepfakes are sexualised images, 99 per cent of which target women. Meanwhile, 70 per cent of women in public life experience online violence, driving nearly half to self-censor.

Despite AI increasingly dominating headlines, its development is seldom analysed through a gender lens: who builds AI models, what biases do they carry, and how do they affect women and girls?

At the UN General Assembly’s SDG Media Zone, Kalliopi Mingeirou, the Chief of the Ending Violence against Women Section at UN Women, discussed these questions with Jayathma Wickramanayake, a Digital Transformation Lead at UN Women.

They were moderated by Aisha Becker-Burrowes, Co-Founder and Executive Director at the FEMINIST Collective, a digital platform dedicated to amplifying feminist voices.  

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.

Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

Nearly six months after it was declared, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to eight provinces in the east and northeast, infecting more than 10,500 people and killing about half of them.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with DRC authorities and other UN agencies on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and community awareness.

This week, two new vaccine candidates were approved for a clinical trial among contacts of patients with Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo species.

Dr. Meg Doherty, who heads WHO’s Science for Health Department, told UN News’s Daniel Johnson what the trial could mean for bringing the outbreak under control.

Football is the world's most popular sport, and its reach is not in doubt. The question is what the game does with it.

At the SDG Media Zone during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, three voices from football took on that question. 

Former England international Eni Aluko is a Champion of Football for the Goals, a UN initiative that unites around 480 football organizations in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. She was joined by former Brazil international and Liverpool FC legend Lucas Leiva, and by Rishi Jain, Impact Director at Liverpool Football Club.

Moderator Shaka Hislop, Senior Soccer Analyst at ESPN, began by asking Ms. Aluko what it looks like for women to have not just a place in football, but a seat at the decision-making table.

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.

Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

Six million refugee children are unable to go to school around the world, with serious repercussions for themselves, their families and their communities.

At the UN General Assembly’s SDG Media Zone, UN Goodwill Ambassador Mary Maker and UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Barham Salih – both of whom grew up in refugee camps – discussed the barriers refugee children face in accessing education and what organisations like the UN can do to help remove them.

Drawing on personal experience and professional insights, they spoke with Arab News UN correspondent Ephrem Kossaify.

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.Music credit: Ketsa – Soul Science

New York is looking beyond disaster recovery following a deadly superstorm 14 years ago towards making sure people living in the US city are protected from future extreme weather events.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy, which was downgraded to a superstorm once it hit New York, led to the deaths of 44 people and caused damage totaling $20 billion.

Since then, authorities have launched a huge infrastructure project on the eastern side of the city’s Manhattan island which will provide protection from future storms and widely projected rises in sea levels.

Daniel Dickinson met Eric Ilijevich, the city’s Director of Coastal Resiliency Design, by the East River, a tidal area of New York harbour, and began by asking him to describe the location of the project.

Kenya recorded its first case of Ebola Bundibugyo virus when a local man who had been working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) flew back to the country via Uganda on 3 October and died two days later.

More than 100 people who came into contact with him - from family members to airport workers - were placed in quarantine for 21 days.  This weekend, some will get to go home.

For more on this, UN News’s Dianne Penn spoke to Dr. Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Kenya. 

Continuing disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and crucial Red Sea routes are driving up freight and fuel costs, putting further pressure on food supply chains – particularly in developing countries – UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warns.

Fertilizer prices have also swung sharply ahead of planting seasons. Higher costs could cut harvests, especially where farmers can’t afford enough fertilizer.

In an interview with UN News’ Nathalie Minard, UNCTAD’s agriculture and commodities chief, Rodrigo Cárcamo, warns that fertilizer price volatility, combined with an extreme El Niño weather pattern, could push yields down further and deepen hunger worldwide.